Fastener for shoe-uppers.



PATENTED NOV. 28, 1905'.

0. K. SHAROOD.

FASTENER FOR SHOE UPPERS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 16. 1905.

Witnesses Attorneys UNITED STATES' PATENT OFFICE.

FASTENER FOR SHQE-UVPP'YEBS ,5

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 28, 1905.

Application filed February 16, 1905. Serial No, 245,972.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that 1, CHARLES K. SHARooD, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Fastener for Shoe-Uppers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to means for connecting the sides of a shoe-upper at the lacingeyelets when the upper is upon a last preparatory to and while securing the sole to the upperin order that the upper may be held in its natural position thereby to insure the proper fitting of the upper upon the sole.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved device of this character capable of being readily engaged with the lacing-eyelets and fastened thereon in such a manner as to prevent accidental displacement of the device, while at the same time permitting of the convenient removal thereof without in any manner marring the upper.

With this object in view the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes intheform,proportion,size,and minor details may be made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shoe-upper having the fastener of the present invention applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view of the fastener. Fig.3 is a detail perspective view of the fastener in one stage of the manufacture thereof. Fig. L is a fragmentary perspective view of a shoe-upper, illustrating a step in the application of the fastener.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in each figure of the drawings.

Referring at first more particularly to Fig. 2 of the drawings,it will be noted that the present fastener is formed from a single length of wire, which is bent into substantially U shape, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, with the side A longer than the opposite side B. The free extremity of the part B is bent into a hook-shaped keeper 1, and the opposite sides are bent over upon themselves, as at 2 and 3, to form loops, with the part lconnecting the loops in a plane at one side of the plane of the parts A and B. The outer portion of the part A is then bent back upon itself to form a loop 5, lying uponthe same side of the part A as the loop 2, the free end portion of the partA then being bent at substantially right angles thereto in substantial parallelism with the part 4, which it exceeds in length, so as to form a spring latch-bar capable of engagement with the keeper 1. It will here be explained that the loops 3, 2, and 5, together with the keeper 1, lie upon the same side of the complete device, the shape of the'latter being substantially rectangular with the opposite sides 4: and 6, exceeding in length the sides A and B.

In applying the present fastener to a shoeupper, which has been indicated at 7 in Fig. 1, the latch-arm 6 is disengaged from the keeper 1, and preparatory to fitting the upper to a last the eyeleted edges of the upper are brought together in substantial parallelism, as in Fig. 4, with the corresponding eyelets in mutual alinement, whereupon the latch-arm 6 is passed through a pair of corresponding eyelets and turned to bring the part A into said eyelets, and then the keeper end 1 of the part B is passed through another pair of eyelets, after which the latch-arm is engaged with the keeper 1, and the upper is spread out into its usual condition and applied to the last, as in Fig. 1. When the fastener has been fitted to the upper and the latter applied to the last, the opposite sides of the upper are held against undue separation by the loops 3, 2, and 5, in which the inner edges of the eyelets are received, and the upper thereby retained in its natural position during the application of the sole to the upper. After the completion of the application of the sole the last is removed from the shoe, and then the sides of the upper may be folded against one another, as in Fig. 4., and upon releasing the latch-arm 6 from the keeper 1 the part B may be withdrawn from the adjacent eyelets, and then the parts A and 6 may be successively drawn through the adjacent eyelets, whereby the device may be very conveniently and expeditiously removed from the upper.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the present device comprises opposite end bars A and B, which terminate at corresponding ends in the loops 2 and 3, located upon one and the same side of the device and connected by the side bar/1, the end bar B having the keeper 1 and the end bar A having the loop 5, from which the latch-arm 6 extends at substantially right angles for detachable engagement with the keeper 1, thereby exhibiting a device which is complete in itself and has no loose or separable parts capable of becoming detached and lost.

By the peculiar construction of the present device it may be readily applied and removed without requiring any particular degree of skillor experience and Without danger of marring the upper and when in use is effectually secured against accidental displacement.

Having fully described the invention, what is claimed is 1. A fastener for shoe-uppers comprising opposite substantially parallel end. bars terminating at corresponding ends in rebent loops upon the same sides of the bars, a side bar connecting the loops, the other end of one of the end bars terminating in a rebent loop, and a latch-bar carried by the last-mentioned loop in substantial parallelism with the side bar, the free extremity of the other end bar terminating in a keeper for detachable engagement by the latch-bar.

2. A shoe-upper fastener consisting of a substantially U-shaped Wire having one side longer than the other, the short side terminating at its free end in a hook, each of the short and long sides being provided at their inner ends with loops upon their same sides, the long side being provided With an intermediate loop upon the same side thereof as the other loops, and the free end portion of the long side extending at substantially right angles thereto to form a latch-arm for detachable engagement with the hook.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

CHARLES K. SHAROOD.

Witnesses:

JOHN R. WILBER, (J. ROY SHARooD. 

